Public Safety and Legal Counsel

Governors legal counsel serve as senior staff, overseeing legal issues with legislation, policy, executive orders, administrative actions, and executive appointments. Additionally, Governors are focused on public safety, crime, delinquency and related social and economic consequences. NGA serves the needs of governors and their policy advisors in a broad range of criminal, sentencing, corrections and justice-related policies.

Latest

NGA Issues Statement on Political Shootings in Minnesota

Legal Considerations Related to Gubernatorial Appointment Powers and Procedures

Legal and Regulatory Considerations for States Related to Artificial Intelligence

Statement from National Governors Association on Fire at Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence

Meet the team

Ken Hardy, Program Director
Lauren Dedon, Senior Legal Policy Advisor
Erin Daneker, Senior Policy Analyst
Maria Kearl, Senior Policy Analyst
Aisley Wallace Harper, Policy Coordinator

NGA Public Safety & Legal Counsel networks

Governors Criminal Justice Policy Advisors Network

The Governors Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPAs) Network provides a forum for governors’ criminal and juvenile justice policy advisors to connect with their peers in other states, promote regional information sharing and collaboration, and learn about best practices and the latest research in the field. NGA convenes CJPAs for an annual institute and offers customized technical assistance to them as requested through research and strategic planning support.

Governors’ Legal Counsel
Network

The Governors’ Legal Counsel Network is comprised of chief legal counsel, general counsel, and legal deputies to Governors. As part of this network, counsel have the unique opportunity to share best practices and legal lessons learned with peers across the nation. NGA convenes legal counsel on regular briefing calls, hosts counsel at an annual meeting, and provides ad hoc technical assistance and research support to the network on a vast array of legal and policy issues.

Consortium Of State Public Safety Executives

The Consortium of State Public Safety Executives is a network of cabinet-level secretaries and commissioners from across the country who are responsible for oversight of their state’s public safety enterprise, including state police, fire, corrections, emergency management and/or other related agencies. Members connect with their peers to share lessons learned, receive briefings from national experts on best practices and receive ongoing technical support from NGA staff.

Resources

Coalition Letter on FEMA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: “Cost of Assistance Estimates in the Disaster Declaration Process for the Public Assistance Program.”

March 5, 2021 Mr. Bob Fenton, Acting AdministratorFederal Emergency Management Agency500 C Street, SWWashington, D.C. 20024 Dear Acting Administrator Fenton: On behalf of our collective organizations, we write to express ...

Expanding Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Corrections and Community Settings

During this webinar, NGA and ACA provided an overview of a step-by-step guide for governors and state officials to expand access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) with the goal ...

Associations Release Roadmap on Strategies for Countering Opioid Misuse in Correctional Settings

As opioid overdoses continue to claim tens of thousands of American lives each year, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the American Correctional Association (ACA) released a roadmap outlining strategies ...

Expanding Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Corrections and Community Settings

This roadmap highlights existing state efforts and serves as a policy development tool for Governors and state officials seeking to improve coordination and bolster existing efforts across state agencies to ...

Issue Brief: Preventing Targeted Violence

This issue brief was created to help governors implement a multidisciplinary strategy to prevent targeted violence. This brief distills the latest research and draws from elements of public-health interventions to ...

State and Local Government Organizations Welcome Biden-Harris Inauguration, Condemn Acts of Violence

The National Governors Association, The Council of State Governments, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors and the International City/County ...

COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization and Administration in Correctional Settings

This memorandum provides an overview of how states have prioritized correctional staff and incarcerated individuals as part of publicly available vaccine plans and discusses considerations around the administration of such ...

Policy Scan of States Driver’s License Rules Ahead of the Election

The following document is intended to provide references to state statutes, regulations, executive orders, policies, and other resources that are currently in the public domain. This document is not an ...

COVID-19 Health and Safety Measures for Elections

This memorandum provides an overview of practices implemented by election officials and considerations for Governors to help reduce the risks of spreading COVID19 for the upcoming election. (View/Download) Background As ...

National Governors Association Leadership Condemns Plot Against Michigan Governor, Praises State and Federal Response

New York Governor and National Governors Association Chairman Andrew Cuomo and Arkansas Governor and NGA Vice Chairman Asa Hutchinson issued the following statement in response to the Department of Justice ...

Coalition Letter on the FEMA Assistance Relief Act

Given the frequency and severity of disasters this fall, we urge swift passage of the FEMA Assistance Relief Act in the House as it will make timely changes to assistance ...

Policy Making During a Pandemic: Navigating the New Normal and What Lies Ahead Roundtables

Throughout the month of October, NGA will be hosting four policy roundtables for state policymakers and NGA experts to discuss today's most pressing policy priorities. We will convene to discuss ...